Discovery

World's Oldest University?

A team of Polish and Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed the site of the ancient university of Alexandria, Egypt.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the team found 13 lecture halls-all of similar size-that together could have accomodated up to 5,000 students. These halls, says the newspaper, "feature rows of stepped benches runningalong the walls on the three sides of the rooms, sometimes joining at one end to form a 'U'. " In the middle is an elevated seat, likely for the lecturer. "It is the first time ever that such a complex of lecture halls has been uncovered on any Greco-Roman site in the whole Mediterranean area," says archaeologist Zahi Hawass, president of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. Hawass defines it as "perhaps the oldest university in the world."